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Is there really a God? Or does God exist only in our heads? Is the Bible truly God's Word, or a jumble of fanciful myths? This book is your front-row ticket to mankind's most enthralling debate. An atheist for thirty years, David Mills argues that God is unnecessary to explain the universe and life's diversity, organization and beauty. This unique and captivating book rebuts every argument ever offered to "prove" God's existence and the Bible's credibility - arguments from logic, common sense, Christian apologetics, philosophy, ethics, history, and up-to-the-minute science. It's all here for you in one richly entertaining, comprehensive, and easy-to-read volume. Few other books provide such spellbinding inquiry and arrive at such a controversial and well-documented conclusion. "The publication of David's work on the dangers and disadvantages of devout religiosity will be very useful for anyone with harmful religious beliefs. Honest, frank, and right to the point! I found it very fine reading." - Albert Ellis, Ph.D., father of modern psychotherapy, author of A Guide to Rational Living and 53 other books.

"I like this material very much. David Mills says very ably and clearly all that needs to be said." - Ashley Montagu, Ph.D., Harvard and Princeton anthropologist, author of The Elephant Man. (Commenting on Chapter 3)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Davids work will be very useful for anyone combating harmful religious beliefs. Honest, frank, and right to the point!" -- Albert Ellis, Ph.D., father of modern psychotherapy, author of 'A Guide to Rational Living' and 54 other books.

From the Publisher

Im pleased and excited that your search on Amazon.com has beamed you to this page, showcasing my new book, Atheist Universe. I want to thank you personally for your interest in this title. Many years of painstaking work, research, and thought were devoted to this project. I am delighted with the finished volume.

Compared to most authors, I write slowly. I could never crank out five or six books a year as Isaac Asimov did so brilliantly throughout his incredible life and career. I like to believe, however, that my unhurried pace permits fine attention to detail and to precise use of language. One of my favorite quotations is that of Thomas Jefferson, who, in a letter to John Adams, wrote "I apologize to you for the lengthiness of this letter; but I had no time for shortening it." Jefferson meant that a skillful writer uses as few words as possible to communicate his message. If I can successfully convey my thoughts to you using a 12-word sentence, then I am watering down my own message  and wasting your limited time  by stretching my sentence to 13 words or to 30. Concise writing saves time and effort for the reader, but demands more time and effort of the writer, as Jefferson pointed out. In writing this book, I did devote the time necessary to shorten each sentence to its minimum length.

Another priceless tip for good writing  a tip which I strive to follow  was articulated by the 20th-century philosopher, Mortimer Adler. Adler taught that "writing should be clear without being plain, and elevated without being obscure." By contrast, much writing in contemporary circles is plain without being clear, and obscure without being elevated. I will leave to your personal judgment whether I have successfully followed Adlers prescription for good writing in Atheist Universe.

Since you have honored me by visiting this page, I will share a secret with you that is closely guarded by authors and publishers. Even Amazon.com keeps this privileged information tightly under wraps. Most books, you should know, contain a maximum of two or three meaningful ideas. Authors and publishers sell you mammoth volumes, however, by cleverly reiterating their two or three ideas throughout the entirety of the book. Authors sometimes write as if they are being paid a penny a word. Yet, substantively, they say little. After reading Atheist Universe, you may find yourself in complete disagreement with every word. You may be offended by some material. You may question my very sanity. But you will not believe that Atheist Universe had little to say.

At the end of the book, readers are given my private email address, available only to those who possess physical copies of the title. I carefully read each message sent to me, whether its laudatory or scornful. I hope that your purchase of Atheist Universe will open a fruitful and pleasurable dialog between us.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I came across "The Atheist Universe" completely by accident and it turned out to be one of the best books on the subject of Atheism I've ever read. What sets it apart from the others is the accessibility of David Mills' writing style. While other books such as George Smith's "Atheism: The Case Against God" are informative and thought-provoking, they aren't exactly too much fun to read, the tone often being dry and sterile. They come across more as a lecture rather than a discussion. But "The Atheist Universe" is a refreshing change. This is a book you can enjoy reading.

In a nutshell, David Mills sets out to challenge all the common arguments for the existence of God using methods pertaining to Atheism such as reason and logic. This book is a perfect tool to gain some "ammo" for any Atheist in a discussion with a Theist. While I've always thought that it's pointless to argue over an issue so complex as to God's existence or non-existence, it never hurts to have some convincing arguments under one's belt if they don't believe that God exists.

I would strongly recommend this book to any Atheist, skeptic, Agnostic, or even Theist who's open-minded enough to welcome a challenge to their beliefs. While I doubt it will convert any Theists to Atheism, it will at least help to hopefully break down some of the misconceptions about Atheism.

This is simply an excellent book for those who share its views; or for anyone who has doubts and wonders what the "infidels" are thinking. I don't think I noticed any negative reviews (I bought this book based on the reviews), but I really wouldn't expect any. Most people wouldn't be caught dead reading a book with the word "atheist" in the title. If any devout believer actually condescended to try it (like they were stranded on a desert island and there was nothing else to do), they would likely be quickly offended by the contents on any random page. I'll bet not 1 out of 100 devout believers would finish this book.

Among the author's offerings are: "Americans believe 58% to 40% that it is necessary to believe in God to be moral. By contrast, only 13% of Europeans agree with the US view...I don't believe in God because I don't believe in Mother Goose (from Clarence Darrow)...I've always considered atheism to be a very positive philosophy in that, by eliminating a very burdensome obligation to appease a non-existent God, an individual thereby gains maximum freedom to choose his own goals and ideals for a satisfying life...(about public prayer in school) Let's remember that Jesus warned the Pharisees NOT to pray publicly because such prayers were usually pretentious, insincere efforts to showboat...My own observation is that those most terrified of death are not atheists, but believers, uncertain whether they are going to Heaven or Hell...Historically, whenever primitive man lacked scientific understanding of an observed event, he created a 'God of the Gaps' to fill the intellectual vacuum...The wider the gaps in scientific understanding, the greater the historic need for a miracle working 'GOTG'...Read more ›

The following review of Atheist Universe was written by R. Leland Waldrip and posted on the website of the Washington Area Secular Humanists:

The book lives up to Mills' promise in the introduction to challenge conventional wisdom and use extreme conciseness and clarity for his message. He describes his writing style as slow and deliberate, taking years to complete the book. He quotes Thomas Jefferson, who, in a letter to John Adams, wrote "I apologize to you for the lengthiness of this letter; but I had no time for shortening it."

With this book David Mills has delivered a coup d'etat to any thought of reconciling religion and science. Post-modernist apologies and attempts to bridge the gap between religion and science he gives no quarter. He very carefully and methodically attacks every religious argument outside the realm of human invention for the existence of a god. His favorite target is the irrationality of Christian belief and the Bible's contention of a young earth, Noah's flood, Genesis genealogies, etc. One rather interesting point he made in an almost casual manner was an observation that the genealogies in Matthew and Luke of the New Testament describe (contradictory) detailed male lineages of Jesus back to King David, and thereby create a trap for the writers of those books: the virgin birth would preclude any blood relationship through Joseph, so how could there be a lineage between Jesus and David? In debunking the prophesy of the Bible, Mills describes an absence of accuracy, noting that as far as accuracy is concerned, the Bible is a non-prophet organization.

He clarifies a number of scientific terms abused by religionists.Read more ›

At the beginning of the book Mr. Mills says he will try to write in the clearest, most easy to understand style possible. He is successful in that and this is one of the reasons why this might very well be the best book advocating atheism. There are some very good books about this subject but they tend to be confusing, with a dry, hard-to-read style. And some of the books which defend atheist position tend to be arrogant, reflecting an air of superiority over the people of faith, an air of "I am smart and right, you are wrong and stupid". In Atheist Universe, however, Mr. Mills' style reflect a warm, likeable character and he explains his ideas without being disrespectful to the opposition.

There is another, very important reason that this book is different however. It always resorts to science for guidance. On a certain level, Mr. Mills takes some beliefs in Christianity (some of which are common to Judaism and Islam as well) and examines them from a scientific point of view. Creation of the universe in 6 days versus the scientific evidence for billions of years, creation of the Earth only about 6000 years ago according to the Bible versus numerous scientific evidence for much longer, creation of the first human from dirt just in one step versus very long gradual process of natural selection according to science are some of the examples. Reading these parts of the book makes one conclude, at the very least, that science is completely irreconcilable with established theistic religions.

On another level the book takes a more abstract definition of God, not necessarily the god of scriptures, and examines questions such as creation ex nihilo (out of nothing). Mr. Mills' way of tackling with such issues is again resorting to science.Read more ›

More About the Author

David Mills is an atheist and an author who argues that science and religion cannot be successfully reconciled. Mills' best-known book, Atheist Universe, was among the flagship titles, first appearing in 2004, later dubbed the "new atheism." Mills' book was Amazon.com's best-selling atheist volume from August 2004 through October 2006, when its sales were superseded by The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins cites Mills' writings as "admirable work." Mills claims in his books to rebut both young- and old-earth creation science, as well as Intelligent design.

David Mills has also written best-selling psychology and self-help literature for the Albert Ellis Institute in New York and for psychotherapy clients worldwide. During the 1980s, David worked as a journalist covering NASA's Space Shuttle program at the Kennedy Space Center, and has himself flown aboard NASA's Zero G training craft.

Born in 1959, David Mills is single, lives in Huntington, West Virginia, and has one 16-year-old daughter, Sophia. His website is http://www.DavidMills.Net and his email is davidmills@davidmills.net.